Kim Dae-jung

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His Excellency Kim Dae-jung
김대중 金大中
Official portrait, 1998
8th President of South Korea
In office 25 February 1998 – 24 February 2003
Prime Minister	Kim Jong-pil Park Tae-joon Lee Han-dong Chang Sang (acting) Chang Dae-whan (acting) Kim Suk-soo
Preceded by	Kim Young-sam
Succeeded by	Roh Moo-hyun
President of the Millennium Democratic Party
In office 20 January 2000 – 8 November 2001
Preceded by	Position established (as President of the National Congress for New Politics)
Succeeded by	Han Kwang-ok (acting)
President of the National Congress for New Politics
In office 5 September 1995 – 20 January 2000
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished (as President of the Millennium Democratic Party)
Member of the National Assembly
In office 30 May 1988 – 19 December 1992
Constituency	Proportional Representation
In office 1 July 1971 – 17 October 1972
Constituency	Proportional Representation
In office 17 December 1963 – 30 June 1971
Constituency	Mokpo (South Jeolla)
In office 14 May 1961 – 16 May 1961
Constituency	Inje (Gangwon)
Personal details
Born	(1924-01-06)6 January 1924 Hauido, Zenranan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	18 August 2009(2009-08-18) (aged 85) Seoul, South Korea
Resting place	Seoul National Cemetery
Other political affiliations	Democratic (1955–1961, 1963–1965) People (1965–1967) New Democratic (1967–1972) Reunification Democratic (1987) Peace Democratic (1987–1991) Democratic (1991–1995) National Congress (1995–2000) Democratic (2000–2002)
Spouses	Cha Yong-ae ​ ​ (m. 1945; died 1959)​ Lee Hee-ho ​ (m. 1962)​
Children	3
Education	Mokpo Commercial High School
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize (2000) Philadelphia Liberty Medal (1999)
Religion	Catholic (Christian Name: Thomas More)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	South Korea
Branch/service	Republic of Korea Navy
Rank	Student Soldier
Korean name
Hangul	김대중
Hanja	金大中
Revised Romanization	Gim Daejung
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Taejung
Art name
Hangul	후광
Hanja	後廣
Revised Romanization	Hugwang[1]
McCune–Reischauer	Hugwang

Kim Dae-jung (Korean: 김대중; Hanja: 金大中; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dɛ.dʑuŋ]; 6 January 1924 – 18 August 2009) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the 8th (15th election) president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.

Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Party. He was an opposition politician who carried out a democratization movement against military dictatorship from the Third Republic in the 1960s to the Fifth Republic in the 1980s. He continued to lose in presidential elections until the 7th presidential election in 1971, the 13th presidential election in 1987, and the 14th presidential election in 1992. Still, in the 15th presidential election in 1997, he defeated Grand National Party candidate Lee Hoi-chang through an alliance with Kim Jong-pil and DJP. Kim was the first opposition candidate to win the presidency. At the time of his inauguration in 1998, he was 74 years old, making him the oldest president in history.

He promoted the Sunshine Policy, a policy of appeasement toward North Korea, and held the first-ever inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea and Japan in December 2000. He is also the only Korean to have won the Nobel Prize to date.^[2] He was sometimes referred to as "the Nelson Mandela of Asia".^[3] After completing his term in 2003, he died at the age of 85 on 18 August 2009 due to multiple organ failure and respiratory distress syndrome caused by pneumonia.